Thanks to the angry website, I was reminded of the song “Year 3000” the other day. And when for whatever reason I went on its Wikipedia page (don’t ask me why, I really don’t know) I learned something many of you (especially the British ones of you) already know:
The Jonas Brothers didn’t write it. It’s a cover.
Evidently “Year 3000” was written by an English band named Busted. And it was a hit.
But, because this is The Internet™, they must be compared. So here are nine categories comparing the music videos for the songs against one another. If you’d like to reference them, here is the Busted video, and here’s the Jonas Brothers video. Below, the results of the comparison are formatted in terms of Category – Winner.
Special Effects – Busted
The Jonas Brothers have more CGI? I don’t know. It just doesn’t look that believable (which is important in a song that implies only five generations will pass in the next millennium). And while the Busted one doesn’t look believable either, it looks like it’s trying to not look believable.
Time Machine – Busted
The DeLorean shoutout will always win.
Doesn’t Make Me Uncomfortable – Jonas Brothers
The Busted video and song’s fixation on triple-breasted women swimming around, totally naked, is odd. Just a little weird. Are those guys into that kind of thing?
More Apparently Genuine Love of Time Travel – Jonas Brothers
Maybe I’m making too much of this, but the Jonas Brothers video just makes them look more excited about the prospect of time travel than Busted. Not that Busted doesn’t seem to like time travel. They just seem more focused on the triple-breasted women.
Better Commitment to the Underwater Part – Busted
This is not a minor plot point for Busted. They are *underwater.* And they let us know.
Lyrics Change: Absurdity – Jonas Brothers
By changing some lyrics, the Jonas Brothers ran the risk of ruining everything. With the song, anyway. But their insertion of “girls there, with round hair, like Star Wars, float above the floor” actually manages to be more ridiculous than what it replaces. Which is impressive.
Lyrics Change: Unintentional Comedy – Jonas Brothers
One of the other lyrics changes—the one switching the line about Busted’s seventh album outselling Michael Jackson to one about the Jonas Brothers’ seventh album outselling Kelly Clarkson—is funny for two reasons:
First, whoever was altering the lyrics equated Kelly Clarkson and Michael Jackson, which is kind of like equating Dak Prescott and Pete Rose.
Second, the Jonas Brothers’ seventh album will definitely outsell Kelly Clarkson if it comes to exist.
Lyrics Change: Letting the Jonas Brothers Fall in Love – Busted
At some point, the lyrics changes went too far. Let the Jonas Brothers call the listener’s great-great-great-granddaughter “pretty fine.” No one will get hurt. They deserve love too, and time travel completely changes the dynamics of intergenerational relationships. Disappointing.
Is a Nerdy Looking Kid Involved? Does He Kind of Crowd-Surf? Do We Actually See His Flux Capacitor Design? – Busted
What finally wins the battle for Busted is their depiction of Peter. Peter, shown as a Chicken Little-looking little scientist, is the real rock star in all of this. He is the reason we keep watching the video. Also, someone on Busted’s team must have felt like there should be an allusion to the space-time continuum, because the drawing of Peter’s design for the flux capacitor actually helped explain the concept.
***
Anyway, Busted wins, but it’s a narrow victory. If you must watch only one of the two videos for the rest of time, it should be that of Busted. But if you’re just listening, both are worthy of airtime. Compliments to one another.
Are you kidding me!
Hands down – Busted win all the way!
Big Phat Zero for originalty fot the Jonas Brothers, they didn’t add anything to their verson to make the cover their own, a few lame lyric changes don’t count in my book – pretty much a straight copy except Busted did it loads better! But hey, hard to beat the original.